So, lately I've been reviewing Thomas of Celano's 1st Life of St. Francis, and in the full life there's this section about his love of lambs that made me realize that he would have driven me crazy.
First, he sees a lamb amidst goats in a field, and because the lamb is the symbol of Christ, he goes to buy it, only he doesn't know what to do with it (eventually he gives it to a convent and they revere it).
Second, he sees a guy taking 2 lambs to market to slaughter, and he's upset, and he fortunately gets enough money right then to buy them, only then he doesn't know what to do with them, and eventually he decides to give them back to their original owner on the condition that he not kill them.
I honestly would have no patience for that. I guess people found that simplicity endearing, but I find it disorganized and extremely annoying. Honestly, if I was walking with him and he had finally gotten money to buy the 2 lambs but then was like, "Oh no, what do I do with them now?", I just know I would have been like, "Sorry, Francis, but I have shit to do, you go figure that out," and kind of cut my losses and kept on trucking and let him do whatever the fuck he was going to do. I really don't have time for shit like that, no matter how holy someone is. I just can't believe anyone would find that endearing.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Essence?
A friend who took her qualifying exams in the fall, this quiet girl I know from Iowa who tends to drink a lot and hang out at bars by herself, said that your personal essence comes through in the stressful period like a couple months before you're due to take them.
In her case, she said, she's always needed her alone time, but this time it was ridiculous, and it was like she couldn't see people.
In my case, I think I am -
- very very social in my time that I'm not studying.
- staying out too late when I go out.
- having low tolerance for people I run across in my everyday life but do not choose to spend time with.
- reading exceptionally trashy books in my spare time moments I'm not being social (right now I'm reading a Michael Jackson bio, which isn't that trashy, but I ILLed the conversion story of Jeffrey Dahmer the other week and am waiting for it to come in).
I wonder if that's my essence.
In her case, she said, she's always needed her alone time, but this time it was ridiculous, and it was like she couldn't see people.
In my case, I think I am -
- very very social in my time that I'm not studying.
- staying out too late when I go out.
- having low tolerance for people I run across in my everyday life but do not choose to spend time with.
- reading exceptionally trashy books in my spare time moments I'm not being social (right now I'm reading a Michael Jackson bio, which isn't that trashy, but I ILLed the conversion story of Jeffrey Dahmer the other week and am waiting for it to come in).
I wonder if that's my essence.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Mind over body.
I've been battling the onset of a cold for like a week. I think it might be stress from my qualifying exams, so I put this note up on my bathroom mirror next to my other positive thinking note -
MIND HEALS BODY
- and I underlined each word twice.
You can't put negatives in a positive thinking statement, and I want to stop from channeling the stress against myself, so I figured it was best to state what my mind is supposed to do, rather than what it shouldn't be doing.
MIND HEALS BODY
- and I underlined each word twice.
You can't put negatives in a positive thinking statement, and I want to stop from channeling the stress against myself, so I figured it was best to state what my mind is supposed to do, rather than what it shouldn't be doing.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
T-shirt.
I forgot --
A while ago I was on the bus and this 17-year old (black) girl steps on at some stop and she's wearing black jeans and this t-shirt that says -
NEWLY
SINGLE
AND
ON THE
PROWL
- and plus she was hugely, hugely pregnant.
She seemed very calm and collected, though.
A while ago I was on the bus and this 17-year old (black) girl steps on at some stop and she's wearing black jeans and this t-shirt that says -
NEWLY
SINGLE
AND
ON THE
PROWL
- and plus she was hugely, hugely pregnant.
She seemed very calm and collected, though.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Yes, more silverfish.
When I was going in to the bathroom the other night to brush my teeth, there was a dark spot on the tile above the place for soap, which is built into the wall right above my sink and below my bathroom mirror.
As it turns out, it was a small silverfish.
I went to crush it with the handle-end of a plastic shaving razor, but it was too quick for me and scurried behind the sink countertop (which is coming away from the wall a little).
As it turns out, it was a small silverfish.
I went to crush it with the handle-end of a plastic shaving razor, but it was too quick for me and scurried behind the sink countertop (which is coming away from the wall a little).
Monday, September 21, 2009
African restaurant.
So, the other weekend I went out for African food at this restaurant with a friend from my program as part of the same ethos of exploring little-visited-by-students restaurants in our part of the city, and it was honestly the best food I've had in like the past 3 years.
As for me, I had the "beef brouchette", which was spice-rubbed cubes of beef cooked medium well and put five-to-a-stick between alternating pieces of onion and red pepper, then grilled... The meal was five sticks, then a side of mixed vegetable couscous and an onion relish.
My friend had spice-rubbed red snapper, which was served whole on the plate and you had to pick the pieces of flesh off and then pick the bones out from between your teeth, and he had a side of fried plaintains, which were the best I'd ever tasted.
(He got the onion relish too.)
For drinks, I got hibiscus juice, and my friend got ginger juice. Dessert was sour cream with sugar and millet mixed in, like a pudding.
All in all, we each paid like $21, for really high quality food. The atmosphere was really nice, too - big high ceilings over two rooms, with cheaper african pictures on the walls and big fabric pieces covering the windows and pulled back by the doors and covering the tables, and a whole speaker set up booming West African music, and a display case with West African DVDs and CDs, and in the back his wife's clothing store (it was in one half of the current restaurant space, but then they blew out part of the wall when their restaurant started getting great reviews and lines were out the door).
The owner, who was Senegalese, sat down with us for a while at the beginning and end of the meal and did the whole kind of "I'm being a nice guy" schtick while he was trying to get something out of you... A Peace Corps worker who I had met in Ghana called it "the hustle", and said a lot of dumb people think Africans are always friendly, when like 80% of the time it's mostly the hustle.
Anyhow, the guy kept telling us how he had his restaurant for love, not for money, but he was trying to expand, and maybe when he got three restaurants, then he'd do it for money. He then gave us promotional cards to give out in our neighborhood and catering information for our department, both of which I was only too happy to take since his food is very good and reasonably priced.
He also ordered his nephew around, this big dumpy teenage Senegalese kid with a full beard, since all of them all Muslims... The women were in back cooking, and his daughter, this tall lanky girl with a huge Afro and a purple sleeveless denim outfit, was serving.
Afterwards, my friend said he found the guy a little patriarchal, especially how he was telling us that ginger juice is good for virility, and he drinks it every morning.
It's hard to believe the restaurant is right near all these liquor stores and convenience stores and stuff... I bet that's why only students with cars visit. I definitely want them to cater dept. functions, though. I hope the food isn't too spicy, and that they can do stuff for vegetarians.
As for me, I had the "beef brouchette", which was spice-rubbed cubes of beef cooked medium well and put five-to-a-stick between alternating pieces of onion and red pepper, then grilled... The meal was five sticks, then a side of mixed vegetable couscous and an onion relish.
My friend had spice-rubbed red snapper, which was served whole on the plate and you had to pick the pieces of flesh off and then pick the bones out from between your teeth, and he had a side of fried plaintains, which were the best I'd ever tasted.
(He got the onion relish too.)
For drinks, I got hibiscus juice, and my friend got ginger juice. Dessert was sour cream with sugar and millet mixed in, like a pudding.
All in all, we each paid like $21, for really high quality food. The atmosphere was really nice, too - big high ceilings over two rooms, with cheaper african pictures on the walls and big fabric pieces covering the windows and pulled back by the doors and covering the tables, and a whole speaker set up booming West African music, and a display case with West African DVDs and CDs, and in the back his wife's clothing store (it was in one half of the current restaurant space, but then they blew out part of the wall when their restaurant started getting great reviews and lines were out the door).
The owner, who was Senegalese, sat down with us for a while at the beginning and end of the meal and did the whole kind of "I'm being a nice guy" schtick while he was trying to get something out of you... A Peace Corps worker who I had met in Ghana called it "the hustle", and said a lot of dumb people think Africans are always friendly, when like 80% of the time it's mostly the hustle.
Anyhow, the guy kept telling us how he had his restaurant for love, not for money, but he was trying to expand, and maybe when he got three restaurants, then he'd do it for money. He then gave us promotional cards to give out in our neighborhood and catering information for our department, both of which I was only too happy to take since his food is very good and reasonably priced.
He also ordered his nephew around, this big dumpy teenage Senegalese kid with a full beard, since all of them all Muslims... The women were in back cooking, and his daughter, this tall lanky girl with a huge Afro and a purple sleeveless denim outfit, was serving.
Afterwards, my friend said he found the guy a little patriarchal, especially how he was telling us that ginger juice is good for virility, and he drinks it every morning.
It's hard to believe the restaurant is right near all these liquor stores and convenience stores and stuff... I bet that's why only students with cars visit. I definitely want them to cater dept. functions, though. I hope the food isn't too spicy, and that they can do stuff for vegetarians.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
No more translation.
The student I'm translating with suggested stopping our translation group for the year since it's the High Holidays and school is starting up next week. I'm sad, I've been having so much fun with it and we have such a good working synergy, but who knows, maybe we will do it again next summer.
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